to judge parents whose children have sunburn?

[StrandedBear]

Seriously there is no need for children (or adults for that matter) to get burnt. It is fairly easy actually, suncream, cover up, stay in the shade between 11 and 3! So when I see a small child with bright red shoulders I want to shake the parents. The sun is dangerous! Then again most of these parents resemble over done lobsters themselves.

Is it a lack of education? Or do they actually not care about the possible damage to themselves and their children?

I know loads of people whose kids get burnt because they haven't/don't bother or know to apply suncream.

I'm really careful with the DC, but DS1 just goes really tanned really easily. We went on holiday abroad when he was quite young and he had factor 40 suncream on, (pretty sure you couldn't get factor 50 then) which was re-applied constantly and a t-shirt at all times and he didn't burn but was browner than me after two weeks!

do you use it too, AKMD?

i was really sceptical at 1st, all that oil? but it's great AND washes out of clothes

getorf it was Carycach who suggested there is some evidence it causes skin cancer..., there was no link to the 'mail' there?

That Badger suncream appears to be very small for £13.95 which is great if you can afford it.

Isn't a better solution to stop scaremongering about possible carcinogenic ingredients (I know you didn't do that unchartered) and encourage people to buy the cheapest, properly tested SPF and slap it on liberally to guard against the proven carcinogenic effects of excessive sun exposure?

Lesbian, there is a huge difference bewteen getting red faced through running about and having bright red skin all over the body from sun burn - I think you are being stupid if you can't tell the difference!

What a fabulous website, thanks for the link. I am popping back there now with credit card

"Mine go red when they run around a lot. You can tell its not burnt because, a) they are covered in suncream, b) the skin is not warm to the touch, and c) THEY AREN'T BURNT, THEY ARE HOT."

Yup mine too (well 3 of the 4, ds1 has olive skin like mine & it takes an age for him to go red if he's hot) - they look like strawberries after about 10 minutes running around (I took a picture of dd2 yesterday because it was so remarkable), never been burnt (while in my care) & still maggoty white despite many hours of running around naked. So I guess this

"And to those on here that say "my child goes red but they aren't burnt" you are just kidding yourself, red skin is burnt."

this a load of bollocks!

Maybe the poster has no experience of fair skinned children because they also go red running around in the winter, in overcast weather & at night, it just takes longer than it does when it is hot weather.

Of my 4 kids one has been burnt once - my 11 year old who went out with friends for the day & forgot to reapply her sunscreen at lunchtime & therefore got red nose - hopefully the discomfort was enough that she won't forget again.

Shit! I've just looked at AKMD's link

£14.70 for 87ml

SooticaTheWitchesCat yes but if the only part of a child's skin which is visible to the judgey observer is their bright red face then you can be pretty certain it would generate a thread just like this one!

Put 'specially formulated for babies' on something and people blindly buy it! What about everyone else who are no longer 'babies'?

i have to buy that expensive suncream because DD is allergic to the 'chepaest properly tested others

and tbh, it's the price of a takeaway or a couple of bottles of wine, or 2 tickets to the cinema, or half a wrist band at Alton Towers

My dd is the same as your younger daughter, leq. She has beautifully olivey toned skin. She is pale in the winter but as soon as she is in the sun she gets a natural tan.

I make her wear sunscreen but it is something I have to nag her about, she isn't as obsessive about wearing a high factor every day like I am.

"Lesbian, there is a huge difference bewteen getting red faced through running about and having bright red skin all over the body from sun burn - I think you are being stupid if you can't tell the difference!"

I think you're pretty stupid if you think I don't know whether my children are burnt or hot, or that the poster you responded to in the first place doesn;t know either, meaning you had no reason to make the point.

And actually, they do go red over parts of their body from being hot, and you're not going to get kids sunburned all over their body unless they walk around naked, so you're still not making any valid points.

Badger suncream This natural, physical barrier suncream is made with zinc oxide instead of chemicals In what sense is zinc oxide NOT a chemical?

But seriously, OP YANBU. There are many ways to protect babies/kids from the sun, whether that be using sunscreen, hats, long clothing or just staying in the shade. I wouldn't necessarily judge the parents of a slightly sunburnt older child, who may just have got a bit carried away having fun outside. However there is really no excuse for letting a baby get burnt.

No olympia I am sorry - I didn't think that anyone had linked to anything on this thread. But there have been links on other threads and they have never been anything other than scaremogering reports with no science behind it. I didn't mean to sound snipey at you, sorry if it came across that way. It's something I feel rather strongly about, as you can imagine.

I buy any old factor 50, from the pound shop or supermarket.

I suppose also it becomes less effective the older the bottle is? Is that true?

As I said, I wasn't accusing you of being silly unchartered. I guessed you might choose that cream for a reason.

But there is a problem with the vast majority of people whose children don't have allergies being spooked into buying expensive cream.

Because if something is expensive you're less likely to slap it on thickly and keep re-applying. And if something is in an 87ml bottle you're going to run out of it quite quickly. Perhaps in the middle of your day out.

That's how lots of people get burnt.

UnChartered no, it's Ambre Solaire for me and DS :o I was put off Badger by the 'reapply every 40 minutes' thing and because I couldn't see a UVA star rating on it - any idea what it is?

Trying to apply suncream to DS is like a manic fly-hunt with a can of sun cream instead of fly spray. Racing around the house, jumping over furniture while the target scampers in the opposite direction as fast as they can go, target in sight SPRAAAAAAAY, missed, suncream halo of target on freshly painted wall, target cornered in bathroom, SPRAAAAAAY, success!

Olympia if the suncream is in a sealed bottle then it's fine until the expiry date. If it's been opened then it should be fine for next year as long as the bottle is at least a third full. If small amounts are stored for the next year the effectiveness is reduced. If stored suncream is discoloured then it's no good either.

There is no reason for Badger suncream to cost that much.

Its active ingredient is cheap and everything else is moisturiser and scent.

They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

AFAIK Zinc oxide based sunscreens are safer because they purely provide a barrier to the sun, and they need to be reapplied frequently as the barrier gets rubbed off.

How do you think these waterproof once-a-day ones work? It's not a physical barrier, it is actually absorbed into/bonds with your skin. This is what some people find worrying, and these are the ones that may have more cancer causing potential.

I burn if out in sun, as does DH and of course, DC do the same, they are 11yrs, I tell them to put on a hat, keep tee-shirt on, re-apply sthe sunblock I have provided them with, one does this, the other completly ignores me and gets burned, I tell him it serves him right, and give no real sympathy whilst treating the symptoms, he moans and groans for a couple of days, then goes out and does exactly the same thing! Juudge me if you will!!

Some people burn incredibly quickly even with sun protection. My dad will burn in low sun in less than 5 mins. He wears factor 60+ but it's easy to miss a patch, not reapply often enough etc. he was the same as a child!
Obviously parents should be using sun cream and hats and there are some parents out there that don't, but people do burn differently so it's not just neglect.

I am quite happy that DD has never got sunburn, despite being born just before one of the hottest summers on record in Germany, and living in Cyprus for just over a year.

We holiday in hot countries at the height of summer, and I never worry about her.

I think it's a result of remembering my own burns and sunstroke as a kid and the state of DHs back which is getting more and more 'freckled' (moles) each year.

She is P20'd as soon as she gets up, then goes into a UV suit. We come out of the sun between 1100 and 1400. She always wears a hat, and knows that no hat means no outside. I also apply normal suncream over the P20 - especially if she is very active.

Even with all that protection by the time we returned from Cyprus DD was 'golden'; we didn't really realise whilst we were still living out there. It's scary how much the sun can get through.

Yes she kicks off sometimes (she's 7 - don't they all?) but I don't back down. I was the same with DSD when she holidayed with us and it caused some screaming rows when she was a teen, but it really is one of my absolutes. There aren't many things im zealous about, but sunscreen is one of them.

I wouldn't judge someone who got caught out by accident. Shit happens. But I have a few friends that seem to think a suntan doesn't happen without burning first. That drives me batty. My BF doesnt consider a holiday any good until she looks like a lobster - and that is just barking.